How Phonics is taught in St Anne's

At St. Anne's we use the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their literacy. RWI is a method of learning centred round letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who reads challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write.

All of the children are taught in groups according to their reading ability, for a daily lesson lasting half an hour, which will focus on phonics and reading. Each group is led by a member of staff who has been trained to deliver the programme. Children in the Reception Classes stay within their own class. Some of the oldest children (in Key Stage 2) who still need structured phonics teaching will have RWI as an intervention strategy during their school week.

We want all of our children to become confident and fluent readers and so it is important that we put all of our energies into making sure that every child has support at their level to make sure that they can make good progress. The children will be continually assessed so that we can ensure that teaching matches their needs; some children will quickly move up the groups whilst others will need time to consolidate what they have learnt before they move onto the next level.

All of the children are given a copy of the Read Write Inc book that they are reading in class to read at home to their parents. In addition to this, children are given another book to read at home (these come from Oxford Reading Tree), this is to ensure that the children have the opportunity to read a range of different books at their level.

Click here to find out more about the Read Write Inc programme and how we teach reading at St Anne's in our letter to parents and carers.